Surrender: Obeying the Greatest Commandment

By Jonna Yarbrough

“You must love the Lord your God with

all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

- Matthew 22:37

In this first and greatest commandment,

Jesus asks for ALL.

What does it look like to give all?

How can we really love the Lord with all?

Surrender means letting go and giving it all.

Scripture helps us examine our heart, soul, and mind, revealing what we are holding back. It gives us specific direction about what we need to surrender, but God’s Word also brings the power and promises to help us complete the obedience.

This study will help you shine the light of scripture into your life, revealing why and how you can surrender all to Jesus.

Each chapter is full of scripture and reflection questions to help you live out the Greatest Commandment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664233553

Jonna Yarbrough

Jonna and her husband, Kevin, live in a small community outside of Clarksville, Tennessee. It’s always been home to both of them, so they are surrounded by family. All this love makes it a perfect place to raise their four children. Jonna homeschools the two youngest, while the oldest two attend public school where Kevin teaches (which also happens to be their alma mater). The kids are active in sports, and the whole family spends lots of time outside, playing and working. Their roots are deep in this community, but together, they seek to offer it all to God’s control and leading. God has called them to surrender their lives and plans in various ways over the years. The most beautiful surrender was to adoption that eventually took them on a trip around the world. Another is a journey they continue to walk as they plant and lead a new church. Kevin and Jonna know and trust in God’s faithfulness. They have seen His love and miracles span the globe and shine light right in their own neighborhood. Jonna was a teacher for 17 years before making the change to homeschooling. She has served in church ministry since she was a youth helping with younger children. She has worked in youth, children’s, and women’s ministries in various capacities for more than 20 years. She believes ministry begins at home and loves seeing her own children choose to serve the LORD. She is passionate about sharing the love and Truth that can only be found in Jesus and hopes to help others grow in their faith and commitment to Him. For more about Jonna and other resources visit: https://faithandstudy.wixsite.com/surrender

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Jonna Yarbrough.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living

Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale

House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3356-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-3355-3 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/27/2021

"You must love the Lord your God with all your

heart, all your soul, and all your mind."

Matthew 22:37 NLT

CONTENTS

Note from the Author

Preface

Chapter 1     All

Chapter 2     The First

Chapter 3     The Freedom

Chapter 4     Living Sacrifice

Chapter 5     Sin

Chapter 6     Control

Chapter 7     Will

Chapter 8     Ownership

Chapter 9     Glory

Chapter 10   Identity

Chapter 11   Family

Chapter 12   Resistance

Chapter 13   The Discipline of Devotion

Chapter 14   Surrender in Worship

Chapter 15   Surrender in Prayer

Chapter 16   Surrender in Study

Chapter 17   Action Plan

Chapter 18   The Joy

Chapter 19   The Potter

Closing

Afterword

Group Study Guide

About the Author

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Why do I write?

I scribble and make notes in a personal journal with my study time, but writing to share comes from a different place. I only post and publish when I feel a special churning in my spirit. Sometimes a message or topic will run on repeat and burn inside like fire shut up in my bones. (Jeremiah 20:9) It’s a word intended to leave; a word to give. That word always begins with me first. I am the first student and recipient. Any teaching or topic I share has first convicted or guided me. I don’t share it after mastering it. I share it because, as disciples, we journey together following one Master. The writing process guided by the Holy Spirit is precious and unique in my life. The LORD provides pieces and parts and revelations that originate outside of my own mind and understanding. Each new piece sends me scrambling for my notebook, desperate to retain His message. As I seek to be a vessel, He provides and teaches and inspires. Writing for me is a way to share. It’s an act of obedience.

LORD, help me to never bury a word You have given. (Matthew 25:18)

How to use this study:

I encourage you to use this study, first and foremost, for your personal walk as a disciple. Grab your Bible, because we will spend lots of time reading straight from the Word. Don’t rush from one chapter to the next. Give God time and space to work in your heart. Surrender means learning to drop your agenda and lay yourself open to His leading, His love, and even discipline.

Meditate on the scriptures. Be honest with the questions. Consider the changes God speaks to your heart. Take time to make the changes.

If possible, also study this alongside a friend or small group. God calls us to encourage and admonish each other in our daily walk. (Colossians 3:16)

Study each section on your own, but bring your thoughts and encouragement to share in your group as you journey through each part. A Group Study Guide is provided as a resource in the back of the book.

This is also a book that can potentially be repeated later in your life. It is designed to meet you where you are and help you to strive again and again for ALL. After some time has passed, you could work through the application questions again. You will likely notice new stirrings from the Spirit, and realize some old struggles are gone.

This is just a book. These are merely words on a page, but . . .

If you allow the Spirit to use it, He can bring a revival to your heart, soul, and mind as you choose to surrender.

For more about the author and other resources visit:

https://faithandstudy.wixsite.com/surrender

PREFACE

God is drawing us to more and more dependence on His Word.

When I’m cooking, sometimes I like to freely change a recipe. It’s fun to customize and play with ingredients and spices, but some dishes require a strict compliance. Baking, especially, involves science, so the measurements and methods are important. When I want to bake a cake and ensure that it comes out perfectly yummy, I bring the recipe in close. It’s right next to me, and I go line by line. I don’t read it one day, and then hope to get pretty accurate the next day.

God’s Word is full of ingredients and directions. God is the Author of life, and He knows the life He has for you. He is the expert, and He has given us the guidance we need in scripture. Bring it close; look at the details; follow the guidance; obey the commands. Allow God to correct the ways you have added or eliminated without His wisdom. Don’t be afraid to dump the batter, when God requires a fresh start.

This Recipe will not fail us.

Trust the ingredients and instructions.

Trust the Author.

Taste and see that the LORD is good. Psalm 34:8 NLT

Let’s dive into scripture together. We want to be led by the Master. We want to honor Him and fulfill His purpose. May the LORD guide us by His Word.

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CHAPTER 1

ALL

The Bible is full of instructions for how to live. There are commands, laws, parables, and proverbs that guide us and correct us. But, have you ever wondered what life as a disciple of Jesus is really supposed to look like?

How do we really live a life that honors God? Can we narrow all of this down?

Jesus helps us with that in Matthew 22. Some of the religious leaders were prodding Him with questions. Their motives were not pure, but Jesus has an answer that encompasses the obedience God desires. His words were not even new, but brought a fresh awakening to God’s call on His people.

Read Matthew 22:34-40.

In Jesus’ response, He quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, which is a part of the Shema. The Shema is a Jewish prayer that recites two verses spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy. Jews would pray these verses daily, in the morning and the evening, to affirm their covenant with God. These leaders were trying to trap Jesus with their questions, but He returns with wisdom straight out of their daily tradition.

The Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NLT

Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Those leaders had recited this every day since childhood. They had taught and required others to say them in reverence and obedience, but in all the ritual, they had missed the richness of their meaning. Jesus shows them the simplicity of what God requires. We don’t need long lists of laws and commandments. We don’t need checklists and details. Jesus said He had come to fulfill the law. (Matthew 5:17) Jesus did not take away from the law, but religion was trying to add to it needlessly. Jesus’ life and teaching revealed and demonstrated the simple, but deep, calling we have.

God says to love with all.

Verse 5 helps us grasp what all really means. Let’s take a deeper look at heart, soul, and strength in their original meaning.

Listen

Shema is Hebrew for listen, and the first word of the verses. Listen falls a little short of the original meaning, though. Shema means more than just hear these words. It actually means to listen and obey. Deuteronomy 6:4 is calling for the Israelites to listen and respond to God. Knowing commandments is never enough. God requires obedience, so the ritual of praying the Shema is supposed to remind God’s people of who they are; who they belong to; and how they should live.

Heart

The Hebrew word for heart is levar. Levar means more than what we typically associate with the word heart. Levar represents a person’s thoughts, emotions, and desires. All of your heart means giving everything inside of you.

Soul

The Hebrew word nephesh has been translated into soul. Again, this translation doesn’t communicate the real meaning for us, because the original Hebrew is referring to the physical life and body of a person. We think of a person’s soul as being an inner part of a person that is separate from the physical, so the meaning gets a little lost here.

Strength

The third word in this series is the Hebrew word me’od. We need some help unpacking this part, too. Strength is the translation we see in Deuteronomy 6, but Mark 12:30 uses two words, mind and strength. Matthew 22:37 says only the word mind. Let’s work through the differences and nuances of these word choices.

Part of the problem we have translating the word me’od is that it is an adverb listed in a series of nouns. Me’od actually means very or much. So, the series is more like heart, soul, and very. The use of this adverb here is to deepen the fullness of the series. It’s descriptive of the LORD’s desire and intent in the command. God wants all of everything, including our very muchness. That oddly placed adverb is expounding on the word all, meaning we are to hold nothing back.

So, we do lose a little in translation. We just don’t have good replacements for these words and concepts as they were written.

Strength is used in an attempt to depict the effort of all.

Mind is used to involve the limitless space of all a person can think and imagine, sort of extending past the person himself.

All of these lack the completeness of me’od, but we can feel the depth and see the fullness of obedience as we study and follow the example of Jesus. Jesus makes the understanding and application of God’s expectations come to life.

All

Jesus has a way of grounding us in Truth. We tend to complicate things; actually, we always complicate things. Surrender is giving it all to Him. What does all mean?

All means all. If you can name it, think it, hold it, feel it, speak it, want it, or be it - give it to Jesus. We are not good at this. We are not good at letting go, so in this study, we walk